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Longmont quilt sale benefits OUR Center, Safe Shelter

Quilting group provided quilts to families affected by the Sept. flood

By Whitney Bryen

Times-Call staff writer

Posted:
02/24/2014 07:56:52 PM MST

Updated:
02/25/2014 02:36:00 PM MST

Jamestown firefighter Mark Wischmeyer was talking loudly to his elderly client during lunch in October when a Longmont quilter overheard the devastation he described following the September flood.

"I was having lunch with an 84-year-old client in Aunt Alice's in Longmont and I have to talk loud to her because she won't wear her hearing aid," Wischmeyer said. "I was practically yelling about Jamestown and Donna overheard me talking."

Donna Hudziak, a member of the Interfaith Quilters of Longmont, offered to help in the only way she knew how: quilting.

Interfaith Quilters of Longmont, which has about 100 members, donated more than 50 quilts to families affected by the September flood, including about 16 in Jamestown, Wischmeyer said.

"The fact that people are giving things for free, hoping to help out, it's nourishing," he said. "It's cold up there and a lot of people had no heat so it's comforting for people to wrap themselves up in some warmth."

The quilters worked for about six weeks on blankets and quilts that were donated to flood victims, Hudziak said.

That project, however, hasn't stopped Hudziak and her fellow quilters from preparing for their 28th annual quilt show and sale, which benefits the Outreach United Resource (OUR) Center and the Safe Shelter of the St. Vrain Valley. More than 500 quilts will be for sale and on display at the First Lutheran Evangelical Church in Longmont.

Last year, the sale generated about $15,000 for each nonprofit, Hudziak said.

One quilter will show off about a dozen of her antique quilts in a "bed turning" display, where attendees will learn about the history of the handmade quilts, she said.

After the show, the group will again focus on making donations for those who need them, Hudziak said.

"We usually donate a lot of handmade items like blankets or hats to the OUR Center or Safe Shelter when they need them," she said. "We just want to help wherever we can."

Charlotte Hughlett of Longmont works on a quilt for the Quilts of Valor project during a meeting of the Interfaith Quilters on Wednesday at First Lutheran Evangelical Church of Longmont. The 28th annual quilt sale to benefit the OUR Center and Safe Shelter of St. Vrain Valley is Friday and Saturday. (Matthew Jonas / Longmont Times-Call)

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